DCCBs allowed to deposit demonetised notes with RBI

New Delhi, June 21: In a significant move, the government on Tuesday allowed the RBI to accept demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 received by the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) during November 10-14 last year.

The gazette notification comes on a day when the Shiv Sena announced endorsement of NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, after the party had last week demanded that the over Rs 2,270 crore lying with the DCCBs be accepted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The notification says that the DCCBs can deposit the demonetised notes, collected during the five-day period after demonetisation was announced on November 8, 2016, with the Reserve Bank of India for 30 days from Tuesday. The DCCBs had been disallowed from accepting the notes after November 14.

It also allows banks and post offices which had collected demonetised notes prior to December 30, 2016 to deposit them with the RBI.

The deposits can be made under Specified Bank Notes (Deposits by Banks, Post Offices and District Central Cooperative Banks) Rules, 2017.

Officials said that the deposits would be taken in pursuance to an assurance given to the Supreme Court by the government that proper verification of each account would be done before any decision is taken.

Such a verification was done between January and May this year and it was found that the accounts complied with the KYC norms.

Last week, Maharashtra Minister Dilip Raote had demanded that the government should allow the RBI to accept the Rs 2,271 crores lying with the DCCBs.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s ally Shiv Sena, which had been sulking over various issues and had demanded RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat or eminent agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan be declared the presidential candidate, declared its support for the NDA candidate.

On Monday, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had slammed the move to appease caste sentiment but the party made a u-turn on Tuesday as it announced its support for Kovind.

“In June 2018, Google will update the financial services policy to restrict the advertisement of contracts for difference, rolling spot forex and financial spread betting,” the search engine giant asserted.

In 2017, Google scrapped more than 3.2 billion ads that violated its advertising policies.

The search also blocked 79 million ads in its network for trying to send people to malware-laden sites and removed 400,000 of these unsafe sites last year.

In January, social media giant Facebook put a ban on all ads promoting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and ICOs.

The new policy prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, Facebook said in a statement.

“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception.

“That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith,” stated Rob Leathern, Product Management Director at Facebook.

Global cues, fears of political instability dent equity indices

Mumbai, March 19: Negative Asian cues — on the prospect of higher interest rates in the US and global trade wars — pulled the key indices of the Indian equity market lower during the early morning session on Monday.

Key challenges, political will top agenda as Crans Montana Forum begins

Dakhla (Morocco), March 16 : With focus on key international challenges like urban global management, ocean economy, food and public health issues and the growing potential of Africa-Asia cooperation, the Crans Montana Forum began on Friday in this western town of Morocco.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Reverend Jesse Jackson, President and Founder of Rainbow Push Coalition, and leaders from several countries joined Jean-Paul Carteron, Honorary Chairman and Founder of the Crans Montana Forum, at the opening ceremony here.

The major focus of the Forum this year is on the Africa and South-South Cooperation.

In his address, Jesse Jackson, one of America’s foremost civil rights figures, stressed on the need to develop and mobilize political will to “end poverty, hunger, illiteracy and killer diseases in the world”.

“Humans have limited but genuine freedom through our individual decisions and our collective politics to make a positive difference in the world. If we can develop and mobilize political will, we will find constructive ways for South-South Cooperation and end the divisions of North and South, rich and poor, powerful and disenfranchised,” Jackson said.

Organized under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, a royal message from the King was read at the Forum’s opening ceremony by Yanja El Khattat, President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Region, of which Dakhla is a part.

Various speakers at the opening ceremony highlighted the crucial role being played by Morocco to be a platform of gateway to Africa and to highlight the kep challenges being faced by African and other countries.

The conference is being attended by over 3,500 delegates and leaders from various countries and 43 international organizations.

The Forum will discuss the crucial issue of urban global management in view of the increasing rural exodus and the urban planning challenges.

The Forum will also discuss extending the Silk Road to Africa and fostering Asia-Africa partnerships. It will also have sessions on women empowerment and youth empowerment and integration.